Gem’s legs went out from under her and she fell to her knees. She landed on the ground with a grunt and fresh blood oozed out from between her fingers. It looked like her armor was in the way and she wasn’t able to put enough pressure on her wound. Tina arrived next to Gem just as she started to slump forward.

  “Guess that I’m in worse shape than I thought,” Gem said with a weak laugh. Her words were even lower than normal. Well, her normal normal.

  Brock arrived next and spoke, “Let’s see how bad it is first. Maybe it’s just a flesh wound and we can stop the bleeding.” He and Tina started pulling at Gem’s armor as she tried to tell them that it wasn’t that bad. The armor had a solid nanocarb chest protector. But it seemed like the Umbra managed to slice through the flexible portion that covered her flanks and abdomen.

  Mumford’s face was pale as a ghost and his eyes were locked onto the blood. Richard was worrying about how to help without getting in the way. But then he realized that it was bad that everyone had dropped their guards. He stepped forward and broke Mumford’s line of sight. “Best to keep an eye out with me,” he said and patted Mumford on the shoulder.

  Mumford nodded, mumbled out some words, and turned away. He took a step forward before he looked back over his shoulder for a moment and then turned to the dimly lit grass and what dangers might be hiding inside. Brock had put down the lantern on the ground next to Gem, which meant that it wasn’t scattering as far.

  Tina hissed. “It’s bad. We might be able to staunch it. But even then it will take some time to get back upstairs. We have a Poor Healing Potion. But that might not be enough given how deep it is.”

  They had laid Gem out on her back, her armor was off, and Tina was pressing down on her wound. Brock had his back turned to them and was rummaging through his pack. “It doesn’t matter. It’s all we have. So it’s better to be used now in order for her to have the best chance at survival.”

  Richard looked on to the scene that was playing out in front of him. He should be keeping watch. But there was so much blood. While a Healing Potion would help. Would a Poor quality one be enough? He reached into his satchel and removed one of the Weak Healing Potions that he always carried with him after the incident with the red guild. “Use this instead,” he said and handed it to Brock.

  “What? I mean, we have one-” Brock had tried to refuse it with his hand. But then his gaze snapped to the potion. He must have seen the System ID. “Alright,” he said and popped the stopper out of the potion.

  Tina helped Gem sit up and they poured the potion down her throat. She seemed resistant at first, but after a few drops she drank it down greedily. “Tasty,” she said and sighed.

  Richard and the others watched as the gash in Gem’s side stopped bleeding. And then slowly the flesh knit closed. Tina poured some water over the wound and washed away the blood with her hand. There was still an angry red mark where Gem was injured. “We don’t know if it will open again should she test it. So it’s best to head back up and not take any chances,” Brock said. “Tina, are you okay with carrying her? Since you’re the highest level, the weight shouldn’t bother you.”

  “I’m not heavy,” Gem said, closer to her normal quiet volume.

  “Wouldn’t it be better if I was free to fight?”

  “Then who will carry her?” Brock said. “It probably isn’t a good idea to put her armor back on.”

  “I don’t think she’s that fussy,” Tina said. “Richard. Sorry, but you should be the lowest level. Do you mind carrying her?”

  “I don’t mind,” Richard said. Gem gave out a weak cheer and reached her arms up at him. Tina fussed over her a moment more. Then they stood Gem up, had her lean onto his back, and he scooped her legs up as she weakly held around his neck.

  Brock decided on a marching order, with Gem and Richard in the middle. While Tina was at the back to respond to anything that might come and Mumford took point. Brock would move to wherever he was needed the most and borrowed Richard’s club. Both to have something to attack with while also making Richard’s load just a little lighter.

  Unlike what Brock feared, Richard found Gem to be rather light. She was smaller than him to begin with. Even with the weight from her gear he didn’t have any issue carrying her back upstairs. They luckily ran into another party as they were leaving the third floor, who elected to help guard the group with an injured member back to the Dungeon Center.

  Once they reached the lobby the party was rushed into a sideroom with cheap plastic chairs and a double door leading deeper inside. Tina took Gem from Richard’s back and carried her through the doors following one of the DC staff.

  Richard plopped down onto one of the hard plastic chairs and sighed. What would have happened if they only had the poor potion? What if he had progressed even further and had managed to make a Normal Healing Potion? Would she have been fully healed from just that? How much more did a potion of a higher quality heal for?

  He punched his thigh and hissed as his fingers lost the battle against his nanocarb leg armor.

  “It’s my fault,” Brock said. He had taken up a chair across from Richard while Mumford stood with his arms crossed and stared at the doors Gem had been taken through. “I should have spent more time on the second floor with the party first. And then maybe descending to the third floor later. I asked Gem to take on too much.”

  “It’s the party’s fault,” Mumford said, breaking his gaze away from the door. “We all knew what we were getting into. Gem agreed to the plan. Maybe if the dps had higher levels, maybe if the tank had higher levels, maybe if we had a healer, or high level potions. It’ll never end if you get into a mind set like that.”

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  Richard washed his face. Hearing someone else saying what he was thinking felt somewhat freeing. The thoughts were no longer hidden inside his mind and were out in the open. Even if it was by the mouth of another. It felt good to know that someone else felt the same.

  “What now?” Richard asked. “She should be fine I hope. Maybe some medical care. But the potion did a good job.” His potion did a good job. He had saved her with something that he had made. Not to say that she would have died without it. But for once Richard had had a real effect on the world. And it was a change that he was able to witness.

  Brock shook his head and motioned towards the door. “Wait for Tina. We need to do loot and then check out, split the drops, taxes, and that.”

  There was no clock in the waiting room, or anything really. It was just a bunch of chairs. After what felt like it could have been a few minutes or hours Tina finally appeared again. “She’s going to be fine. The Healing Potion did most of the work and she’ll probably get released after being checked by a doctor.” She plopped down in the seat next to Brock. “Have you discussed the drops yet?”

  “No. Was waiting for you.”

  Tina gave Brock a not so nice look. “So that I can deal with it then?”

  He shrugged. “Better to not have to repeat myself. In the mess of the action and getting out of there we didn't properly go over the drops from the Umbra’s. There were 2 Umbra Pelts, pretty standard, one Umbra Eye, and this,” Brock said and removed a leather bound book from a pocket from the inside of his jacket.

  Richard sat up straight while Mumford shook his head and then spoke, “It can’t be too rare if you are just pulling it out like that.”

  “It’s considered common, as far as skill books go. But it would have been the same had it been rare. We are all in the same guild, and eat from the same table. Traitors and backstabbers don’t make it far outside of red guilds.”

  Tina took the book in her hands for a moment and then handed it off to Richard. He held his breath and willed the System to tell him what it was.

  Bash Skill Book, F-Rank

  It felt somewhat disappointing for something like a skill book to have such a mundane skill. He handed it off to Mumford who glanced at it a moment before he handed it back to Brock.

  “Does anyone know what the price of the book is going to be?” Richard asked.

  Brock shook his head. “It’s not what you are thinking. F-Rank skills take a lot of work to level up, so people tend to want to save time and go for a higher rank. There is also the fact that an explorer is limited to 3 skills. So oftentimes there are better ones out there as well.”

  Tina looked up from her phone and spoke, “Last time it appeared it went for over $600k. So it’s nothing that exciting like Brock said.”

  Huh. Only 3 skills? Richard tried to recall what he had read about them. But there was never anything mentioned about a limit. At least not that he was able to recall. “Is that common knowledge?” he asked.

  “Not really in non explorers. Most people don’t get the chance to learn that many skills. It’s only in those that truly shine as explorers who are in the know. I can’t say that I know the reason why,” Tina said.

  “Then by having a crafting skill taking up a slot… doesn't that mean that the guild is rather weak? Or at least weaker than other, combat focused guilds?”

  Mumford laughed. “Have you forgotten what crafters are good at? The gear that everyone crafts can make them stronger. Either by wearing it themselves or trading for gear that they can use. Other guilds might have another skill, but they are usually lacking in crafted items. Which is why crafters are so sought after. And it’s also why red guilds want them so badly, due to not being able to buy from normal guilds. At least not through their main identities.”

  “The Crafter’s Union only sells to other guilds in good standing. And while some items will make it to the market, it would never be enough to outfit a guild proper,” Brock said.

  Richard nodded as he digested everything that had been revealed to him. He just assumed that all skills books would be worth a lot of money. But that was based off of the Alchemy one that he looked up. Given how important healing potions were, it wasn't a surprise. He had just witnessed first hand at how powerful a Weak Healing Potion was. Would the party have used it if potions were hard to find or replace? While he would have liked to think so. Some parties might not. Or if the prices were too high it would be out of reach for them. And then a wounded member could lose their life instead of being saved.

  “There is also the matter of the Healing Potion,” Brock said as he looked at Richard. “Usually when one is used it comes out of the party funds, from the earnings for the exploration that they just finished.” Brock crossed his arms.

  “Don’t worry about-” Richard had started to say before he was cut off.

  “Don’t sell yourself short. If you were to buy something off of any of us you would give us a fair value for it. So it only makes sense for you to get the same.”

  Richard looked at Brock for a moment. And then at Tina and Mumford. They all seemed to be willing to reimburse him for it. While he was happy that it had gone to a good cause. The fact that they weren’t just taking advantage of him gave him a feeling of belonging. Something that had been missing from his life for probably too long.

  With Gem stable there was nothing else to do but wait. So the party decided to get the drops sold and shares handed out. There were a lot of drops considering that they took out 12 Cabbits, 3 Large Cabbits, and 2 Umbras.

  Richard’s share of the total was $94,192. A 5th of the total after taking out the market cost of the Weak Healing Potion from it, $32,000. As much as he wanted to refuse the conversation from before was still in his mind. They saw it as respecting him as a crafter more than his personal consumables being used up. Even if it was cheaper for him to make, he wasn’t giving himself enough consideration.

  Looking at the totals, only about 9k came from the non skill book drops. Which would have been a loss if he was still renting equipment. Though if it wasn’t for the injury they would have kept exploring. And a few more Large Cabbits or a couple Umbra would have pushed them over 10k each.

  “How about drinks?” Brock asked once they stepped away from the reception desk. “It seems in poor taste while Gem is on the mend. But it might be best to take the edge off of a day that could have gone much worse.”

  “I’m in. I’ll make sure to drink Gem’s share,” Tina said. When Mumford didn’t respond right away she poked him in the ribs. “Come on, you need this as much as anyone.” He shrugged and then nodded.

  They all turned to look at Richard. “What’s the craft beer scene like in the city?” At his question the three of them smiled wide and hurried him out the door.